


The Happy Warrior

by adamgurri



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Black Markets, Economics, Ethics, Gen, Martha Nussbaum, Morality, Organized Crime, Philosophy, William Wordsworth - Freeform, Yakuza, happiness, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-18 03:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4691123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adamgurri/pseuds/adamgurri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can organized crime exist in a society that is both thoroughly monitored, and ruthless in its punishment of those who even think about stepping out of line? Detective Tsunemori has seen too much of Japan's underbelly, and is left with questions she is constitutionally incapable of ignoring.</p>
<p>Timeline is post movie, with (so far minor) spoilers for it. Follow Akane and the gang down yet another rabbit hole of crime, violence, and of course, philosophy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Smoke Break

**Author's Note:**

> A friend introduced me to Psycho-Pass earlier this year, and it has become my greatest obsession. I just want to explore the world more---so here we are! Hope you guys enjoy the fic, I intend to keep updating it and have an ending in mind. Hopefully I'll pull it off.

"Detective Tsunemori," Ginoza greeted, leaning against the railing and staring out into the city.

"It can be Akane, at least between us, Ginoza-san," she replied warmly. She had a cigarette in her hand, which was resting on the rail. She tried to be discrete about her smoking. She couldn't say why, exactly---she was not embarrassed; she was well beyond feeling insecure about the image of herself reflected back in what people thought of her. And when it comes right down to it, the MWPSB headquarters was home to some real hedonists; it's unlikely they would be very judgmental.

No, Akane was discrete because her smoking was a private thing, connected to something precious. It wasn't just a connection to Kougami Shinya, though the smell of the smoke would always be associated with his presence in her mind.

But it was more than that, much more. It connected her to a sense of self and her convictions. Kougami had played a big part in her becoming who she was, to be sure. But she had walked the journey herself, and made it her own from the beginning.

Of all the people she worked with, Ginoza was the only one she didn't mind being less discrete around. He noticed her habit some months ago now, and had chosen not to comment on it. He could guess how and why it had started.

"Forgive me, Akane-san," he replied easily, "I try not to seem to inappropriately informal in front of the other enforcers and...your _partner._ " Akane hid a small smile at the tone he took as he said the last two words. "But if you would like it to be 'Akane' in private, so be it. I owe you at least that much." _  
_

"You're so proper, Ginoza-san," she laughed, "even when trying to be informal."

"Says the detective who uses honorifics when talking to enforcers," he replied with a smile of his own.

She held up her hands to admit defeat, and they shared a moment of amusement. They then settled into a comfortable silence, staring out into the city without feeling the need to say anything.

After this had gone on for some time, Akane took a drag from her cigarette, and puffed it out slowly.

"A few thoughts have been sticking with me lately, and I wonder if I could get your perspective?"

"Of course," he answered without hesitation, turning to look at her. She turned and leaned against the wall, so that she would be facing him.

"How did he get out of Japan?" she asked. Ginoza sighed. She didn't have to say who she meant.

"Whatever else, he is a resourceful and cunning man," he replied, "and the Makishima case concluded in a rural location without scanners. He had much more freedom of movement as a result."

"I agree," she concurred, "but that only explains how he was able to evade detection while he stayed in the country. The borders are heavily guarded with drones, cymatic scanners, and soldiers. I hear that they've even sent drones down into the sewer lines that terminate out there."

"So what are you suggesting?" Ginoza asked, not following.

"I'm not sure myself," she admitted, "but I've also been reminded of something else, as I think about this. Do you remember Spooky Boogie's party, not long after I started the job?"

"Of course, it was a disaster," he said, frowning in recollection, "Makishima's hacker made utter fools of us."

"We had no way of knowing what we were up against," she pointed out, "but that's not what bothers me. Do you remember why it ended up being impossible to identify the culprit, once everyone was in the same holo?"

"Nearly everyone who came was a latent criminal."

"Yes. How did so many latent criminals escape our notice until then?"

"Well, these were mostly net personalities," Ginoza reasoned, "they could have spent nearly all of their lives at home, like the victims in our case. Avoiding scanners the few times they went out wouldn't have been easy, but relatively easier than for the average citizen, who has to go out every day."

"That's what I thought at the time, too," she allowed, "but could so many latent criminals, traveling all at once, really escape detection on their way to the party? Could they reasonably expect to all evade detection on their way home?"

Ginoza didn't have an answer to that. Instead, he let out a long-suffering sigh. "As if you didn't have enough on your plate, with your caseload and the random elevations in area stress levels," he said in a scolding tone, "now you've find a new fixation. Sometimes you really are just like him."

"Ginoza-san is such a worrier," Akane teased him with a friendly smile, "sometimes I think you must have been my wife, in another life." She was rewarded by the started look on his face, followed by outrage, and then resignation.

"Why do I even bother?" He asked no on in particular, as she laughed.

"But you admit that there's something fishy there" She asked, once she had regained some composure.

"Just be careful," was all he said, turning to leave.

"Thank you, Ginoza-san," she said sincerely, and put out her cigarette.


	2. Consultant

When Tsunemori Akane showed up, he already had coffee ready. She had phoned ahead, and he had a pretty good idea of how long it would take her to arrive.

It had only been a few months since Jouji Saiga had been released. He had done his best not to laugh at the shocked faces of the guards once his crime coefficient fell below the crucial threshold. It seemed that for all their talk of rehabilitation, no one expected anyone to actually get better once they arrived at the facility. He had always been an unusual case, though, having turned himself in. Of course, the most unusual case of all, and the person to whom he probably owed his freedom, sat across from him sipping her coffee.

"Now then," he said, pushing his glasses back up his nose, "how can I be of service, detective?"

"I wonder if you've given any thought to black markets," she said.

"Ho? Black markets," he marveled, "you thinking of going into business? The Bureau not paying you well enough?"

"Do I look like the type?" She asked with an amused smirk.

"To put it mildly, no," he replied, "what about black markets did you want to know?"

"Well, if I did consider becoming a black market broker, or selling to one, or buying from one," she said, "it would show up in my Psycho-Pass before I had even doe anything. Yet black market brokers exist---I have arrested several myself. How is it possible? Many were operating for years before being captured."

"Hm," Saiga pushed at his glasses again absentmindedly, "tell me, detective Tsunemori, are you familiar with the concept of arbitrage?"

"Arbitrage?" She repeated, sounding out the unfamiliar word.

"Think of it as recognizing an opportunity for unusual gain. For instance, if crops come to harvest a certain time of year, there's an opportunity to buy them cheap today, store them, and sell them at a higher price later, when they are no longer in season. That would be an arbitrage opportunity."

"Sounds a little dishonest," Akane said, not questioning the relevance of this turn in their conversation though she could not yet see it herself.

"Many have thought so," he concurred, "but from another point of view, it's just human ingenuity. And it performs a valuable service---people need to eat year round, not just during the harvest."

"I see, that does make sense," she replied, "but surely it would take more than one person to perform this role for everyone?"

"Well deduced," he said with a small smile, "arbitrage opportunities rarely last for long. People, not just lone geniuses, are smart. They're looking for opportunities all the time---or at least, they used to." He found himself momentarily lost in thought.

"Please continue," Akane prodded, after a moment of polite silence.

"Oh, yes," he snapped out of it, "as soon as someone finds an arbitrage opportunity, others come in, usually undercutting one another's prices. The end result is that all of them only make just enough profit to keep them performing their role, at a price not much higher than the crops went for when they were in season."

"That sounds exhausting."

"I don't want to hear that from a workaholic like yourself," he teased. She chuckled and put her hand behind her neck, leaving the point uncontested.

"Strange as it may seem, before the Sibyl System, seeking out arbitrage opportunities was the primarily way we all got food on our tables and discovered new ways of betting our standards of living."

"What happened?"

"Scale."

"Scale?"

"It got cheaper and cheaper to make food in bigger and bigger batches at a time. Eventually, the process was so big, so efficient, and so cheap, that it was easy for Sibyl to simply take control entirely. As for outside of Japan...well..."

"But we've strayed somewhat from your question. How are black markets possible? My theory is arbitrage."

"I'm afraid you've lost me, professor," she admitted.  
  


"That might be a first," he remarked, "what I mean is that humans naturally seek to improve their situation, even now. Especially those with cloudier hues, who get the worst jobs and the lowest social status in the current system. Moreover, the very difficulty of escaping detection means that there will be a small number of individuals capable of pulling it off. It also means there won't be much competition when they do---so they will be able to charge a very high price."

"So black market brokers see their criminal activities as arbitrage opportunities," Akane filled in, finally seeing the direction of his thought, "I see." She thought for a moment. "My first year we had a staged arrest go bad. Details of the case aside, we found ourselves in a room with perhaps a hundred latent criminals, all of whom had no problem getting there without being detected, none of whom were caught on their way home."

"I see," Saiga mused, "you're skeptical that there could be black market brokers good enough to account for so many people confidently giving Sibyl the slip?"

"I wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter," she replied. Saiga took a long sip from his coffee, finishing it off. He stared down into the mug.

"Have you ever read any of the histories of the Yakuza?" he asked quietly.

"Yakuza? No. What is that?"

"It's a word from the criminal world before Sibyl. It referred to organized crime, here in Japan."

"Organized crime?"

"There were many words for it around the world. The mob. The mafia. The Cosa Nostra. The gangs. Bratva. During the 20th and 21st centuries, it took root in many nations. You remember what I said about food production?"

"That it got cheaper because it go bigger?"

"Exactly right, detective. The Yakuza were like that, but for black markets. They created big, far-reaching organizations that competed against one another for a monopoly on black market activities within what they considered their territories."

"How could a criminal organization have territory? It wouldn't be recognized by the law."

"Only by the law of force and intimidation. In a way, these groups were a product of peace and order, see? They could only exist in the shadow of governments that kept out most of their competition and outlawed many activities, and so kept their prices high."

"You think the Yakuza may still exist." It wasn't a question.

"I think if a group could pull it off, it would make them very rich."

"If they could pull it off," she corrected him, "they would be the most dangerous group of criminals currently active in our country."


	3. Rats

As one of the few cities left on the planet where peace and order were the rule rather than the exception, Tokyo still had all of the perks of old 21st century cities, and then some. One of the major perks, something that was a sign of unusual affluence even in the good old days, was its clean running water and efficient waste management system. The city's underbelly therefore had a series of sewer tunnels every bit as intricate as its streets above.

Akane knew that criminals often went underground to avoid scanners, but she had never explored this deeply before. The pillbugs had to go in a long line, the furthest one relaying its data back through a chain of them to the closest one, which at this point was so deep that it itself had barely enough signal to relay the data up to the police truck above.

"We have to send another down," she said, without taking her off the screen.

"This is the last one we've got," Mika said, though it was not a complaint or criticism.

"It will have to be enough," Akane said. Mika made a gesture, and Sho turned on the last pillbug and set it down by the open manhole. A new icon appeared on a screen that Kunizuka stood in front of. She typed in some commands, and the pillbug began to crawl down the hole to join the others.

Once there, it sat itself at the closest point to the MWPSB van, and the rest of the chain began moving forward.

The furthest one was near the end of a tunnel, where there appeared to be a relatively large and open area.

"Please stop," Akane asked, and Kunizuka stopped the march of the pillbugs. "Please aim into the open area and zoom in."

It wasn't easy to see from the angle the pillbug had approached at, but now it was much clearer---there were people in the opening.

"Incredible," Mika marveled, "you were right, sempai. There they are, crawling around the sewer like rats."

"I see six with their backs to the pillbugs," Akane counted, "but it's hard to see how big the group they are talking to is. Kunizuka-san, could you---slowly please---move in a little closer?"

"The signal is already deteriorating," Kunizuka warned, "I'm not sure how much closer I can get."

"We can't get too much closer without risking them seeing us anyway," Akane remarked, "but I'd like a better idea of what we're up against."

The pillbug inched closer, aiming at the further group on the highest zoom. The screen began breaking up. Before it got too bad, Akane asked Kunizuka to have it stop. She saved the image, then blew it up. Between the people standing in the way and the distance, it was hard to get an accurate count of the second group.

"It's probably another six," Mika reasoned.

"I wish we could confirm," Akane replied, chewing the side of her mouth pensively as she stared at the image. "More than that, I wish we had enough pillbugs to check out the other tunnels that feed into that room, in case they have backup."

"We should send the Enforcers ahead to confirm the safety of the routes there," Mika said with an insistence that dared her senior partner to contradict her. Akane had expected this answer. It was always Mika's answer. She felt bad for any Enforcer that worked with Mika after she advanced in her career and was no longer paired with Akane. Because Akane never went for it, and Mika rarely put up much of a fight any more. They both knew that Akane was second to none when it came to coordinating a raid.

"Let Division 2 know that we will need their backup after all," she said after a moment.

"OK, but even though we warned them we might be calling, there's still no guarantee they'll make it before our sewer rats have left," Mika pointed out, immediately making the call on her communicator.

She was right, of course. Mika had many shortcomings but she was sharp. Akane continued to stare at the screen, wondering whether she ought to risk their lives or risk letting these criminals get away.

It had taken months of work, beyond her regular responsibilities, and very little sleep, to get this far. She had paid her information brokers more than the entire year beforehand. Eventually her discretionary budget for the year had run dry and Chief Kasei had rejected her application for more. So she had continued to pay them out of her own pocket. She had had to live a very spartan life as a result---not that she indulged herself on much of anything usually!

She also spent many long nights going over old cases for any sign that the perpetrators who had been caught were not acting alone. It had been slow, tedious work. But it, and the information her brokers had supplied, had brought them to this meeting. If she let these criminals slip through her fingers, she didn't know how long it would be before she had a chance like this again.

Also, she was completely broke.

She took a deep breath. Risking their lives was the job. She just needed to be smart about it, as careful and clever as she could be, to make sure the risk was as low as they could get it.

"Division 2 says they can be here in 20 minutes," Mika said.

"Thank you. We'll go in before they arrive," Akane told her.

"How do you want to do it, sempai?"

Akane pulled up a schematic of the area of the sewer where the meeting was taking place.

"Hinakawa-san," she said, and he made a noise in acknowledgement, "you stay here and man the pillbugs. You will also relay the plan to Division 2 when they arrive."

"Hn," Sho assented.

"Kunizuka-san and Sugo-san will accompany Detective Shimotsuki, and Ginoza-san will accompany me," she continued, and laid out how it would work.

 

 

It did not go as smoothly as the raid on the foreign terrorists, which had been the biggest raid she had conducted prior to this one. Though they had had serious combat experience, they had no idea what they were up against. The Dominators on lethal and decomposer modes were an unexpected factor to them; that, Akane's planning, and effective teamwork carried the day in that instance.

These people clearly had a much better understanding of the MWPSB and their tactics.

Not that Akane's planning was for nothing. The first steps went about as well as she could have hoped. Both groups managed to get in position in side tunnels without being seen. The stun grenade was delivered in a pillbug.

Someone shouted "Scatter!" just before it went off, but it was too late for a couple of the people closest to the blast; they went down for the count. A handful of others were knocked down or stumbled; that was Akane and Mika's cue to come out guns blazing.

As planned, the criminals had been expecting their pursuers to come from the same tunnel as the grenade. The MWPSB team managed to stun two and execute one right off the bat. But these were tough customers---the remaining criminals returned fire with handguns, forcing the MWPSB team to take cover and giving the criminals a chance to escape.

One of them, however, had hit the ground rather than run. He lay there, with his hands behind his head.

"Ginoza-san!" Akane shouted, and the enforcer ran over to handcuff the man on the ground. Akane signaled for the team to give chase. Teppei split up from Mika so join Akane in her pursuit, while Mika and Kunizuka went down a separate tunnel.

Akane had expected all of the criminals to flee, but she had misread them. Two had stayed behind, and appeared suddenly at the end of the tunnel when Akane and Teppei were halfway in. Each had two handguns, and they began spraying the tunnel with bullets. Akane hardly had time to think before she felt a piercing pain in her left shoulder and right calf. Teppei was diving on her an instant later. She managed to get one shot off, and was rewarded with the terrible sound of a lethal shot hittings its mark.

Things were hazy from there. She heard Ginoza shouting her name. She felt the weight of Teppei's body lift off of her, and saw Ginoza's face looking down at her.

She felt cold, and tired.

She closed her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Akane died, the end.
> 
> Just kidding. Or am I?


	4. Bedside Manner

She slowly became aware that she was lying down in a bed. She opened her eyes, and was a bit surprised to find that she was not in her own room.

Bright lights added to her disorientation. It took her a moment to realize that she was in the medical wing at headquarters. She surveyed the room and saw Ginoza, slumped over asleep in a chair next to her bed. She smiled weakly at the sight. She tried to say something, but found her throat painfully dry, and started coughing instead.

Ginoza snapped awake immediately, and grabbed a glass of water he apparently had had ready. She took it with her right hand, noticing for the first time that her left arm was in a sling. She gulped down the water and gasped after she was done.

"Thank you," she managed, in a hoarse voice.

"Don't try to say too much right now," Ginoza advised, taking her glass to refill it at a nearby sink. When he returned with it, she sipped it more gingerly this time. "You were lucky," he told her, "the shot to your calf didn't hit any major artery, and they think you should be on your feet---with a crutch---in a matter of days. You were less lucky with your shoulder. The damage was  _bad_. In any other country in the world, you would have been at real risk of death. As it is, it sound like you'd better get used to doing things one-handed for a while."

"Were Detective Shimotsuki and Hinakawa-kun ambushed as well?" she croaked.

"Your partner's sense of self-preservation and Enforcer Hinakawa's timidity caused them to hesitate before pursuing their marks," Ginoza sighed, "in this case, it turned out to be a good thing. They heard you getting shot at before their own ambush was sprung, and dropped to the floor. It seems our gunmen were more interested in slowing us down for their friends than killing anyone; they shot over their heads until they had run out of ammo, and then escaped."

"They weren't interested in killing us, but they weren't very concerned with the possibility, either," Akane remarked, remembering how quickly they had filled the tunnel with bullets.

"I can't argue with that," Ginoza conceded, "these were more disciplined and more hardened criminals than I have ever encountered. How they continue to evade detection is a mystery."

"It is  _the_ mystery," Akane emphasized, "how...how is Sugo-san?"

Ginoza stared at the floor, and Akane's heart sank. After a moment, he said, "It's bad. He survived, but he remains in critical condition. Two bullets went through a lung. Another hit him in the spine. He can only breathe with assistance right now, and a great deal of his body will have to be replaced with cybernetic parts before he'll be able to walk again. That is, if he survives---something that unfortunately still hangs in the balance."

Akane felt a lump in her throat.

"It isn't your fault, Akane-san," Ginoza said quietly.

"I misread the situation and put all of us in harm's way," she muttered.

"Don't be conceded," he snapped, startling her, "we faced an unknown and organized enemy in greater numbers than us, and it would have been irresponsible to allow them to get away and continue to commit crimes. Nevertheless, we managed to capture several and execute a significant number, so far without losses. If you think you could have done so much better, you must think you're capable of being perfect."

She gawked at him for a moment in disbelief.

"It's been a long time since you've lectured me like that, Ginoza-san," she teased him with a small smile.  
  


"Hmph," he huffed, looking away at her, "Enforcer Sugo's actions were both decisive and heroic. Don't cheapen them by thinking your choices were all that mattered in that situation."

"You're right of course," she sighed, "and I owe him my life."

An uncomfortable silence followed. Finally, Akane asked, "How many have we captured?"

"Two stunned by the grenade and two by dominators," Ginoza counted, "Division 2 arrived after the confrontation began, and thanks to your instructions were more easily able to capture one more and execute two. Then there's the matter of the one who surrendered himself..."

"Yes?"

"He isn't a latent criminal," Ginoza said flatly, meeting her eyes again, "in fact, his Psycho-Pass is even clearer than yours."

They both knew what that meant.

"Five latent criminals, and one criminally asymptomatic suspect," she accounted, "with the four dead, that brings the number enforced to ten. Once we were closer, I could see about fourteen total there."

"There were others, too, hanging back beyond the tunnels we attempted to pursue them from," Ginoza added, "four more at minimum."

"So at least eight who got away, almost as big a group as we managed to enforce."

"We can't think about that now," Ginoza said quickly, "we have more than enough of them in custody to get information on their co-conspirators."

"Has Detective Shimotsuki begun the interrogations?" Akane asked.

"She has, but without success," he replied, "it would seem they find her less than intimidating."

"Historically, criminal organizations were good at keeping their members from talking to the police through a combination of loyalty and intimidation," Akane said, "members knew that they were risking their lives if they talked to the police."

"You don't think we'll get anything from them."

"We may be able to get information out of them in other ways."

"I hope you're not thinking of a mind scrape."

"Ginoza-san, who do you think you're talking to?" She asked pointedly.

"Sorry, I know you better than that," he apologized, "in any case, your partner already suggested it, and Chief Kasei rejected it."

"That's a surprise."

"These aren't foreign terrorists. They may be criminals, but they're also citizens. We're bound by stricter rules on how they can be treated."

"Hopefully that's all there is to it," Akane replied pensively. Ginoza was not sure what to make of that, but knew her well enough to know it wasn't a throwaway remark.

"What should we do with the...man who surrendered himself?" he asked, "we cannot hold someone with a hue so clear for long."

"I'm surprised Chief Kasei hasn't intervened where he's concerned already," she said, "please release him before she does."

"You want to let him go?"

"Yes, but beforehand, could you do me a favor, Ginoza-san?"


	5. In the Shadow of the System

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long lag. I was going to build to this chapter a bit more, but life got crazy (yadda yadda the excuses every fanfic reader is used to hearing). Anyway, I may continue to update this, but I wanted to at LEAST write this chapter, the whole purpose of the fic. Hope you enjoy it, at least!

"Who is the happy warrior?"

"Excuse me?" Akane said. The middle aged woman sitting across from her gave the detectives a knowing smile, and then took a leisurely sip of her coffee. Mika grit her teeth in impatience, but Akane could wait.

She had asked Ginoza to plant a tracker on the criminally asymptomatic suspect they had picked up before letting him go. The tracker had eventually gone offline. Either the suspect and his allies had discovered it, or the Sibyl System had picked him up discretely to discretely add him to their collective. But it had remained on long enough to produce a few leads.

Some of those leads had brought them here, to a little restaurant in the style of an American diner. At least, back when there was an America that had such things.

Sitting across from Akane and Mika was the person those leads had brought them to, Hanzou Kaori. She was the majority stakeholder and CEO of one of the largest and most successful conglomerates in Japan---and, therefore, the world. In her research Akane had learned that the pre-Sibyl yakuza often operated legitimate businesses in order to cover their illegal activities, but never on this kind of scale. Shion had looked into the company's finances, and even she couldn't find any dirt. All finances were accounted for, not a yen that might have come under the table.

Akane suspected Hanzou's company was relatively clean, and that her illegal income was either disguised through other means or simply unreported.

When they had arrived, Mike had brashly asked the CEO to have her goons leave. Akane had spotted them, too---the only other customers in the diner were clearly muscle working for Hanzou.

"Please pay them no mind," Hanzou replied in a bored tone, "after all, their Psycho-Pass would let you know if you had something to worry about, wouldn't it?"

Akane wouldn't have bothered to reveal she was aware of them in the first place. Their enforcers were in position outside, ready to blow away anyone whose crime coefficient rose beyond regulation values.

"Why have them at all," Mika murmured. Hanzou had given Akane a significant look, and the detective realized she was being gauged.

"It isn't for us," Akane answered, "normal people would be physically intimidated, even if they know, intellectually, that Sibyl wouldn't allow violence. Especially if they've seen agents of Hanzou-san commit violence without consequence before."

"Senpai!" Mika said sharply. Alluding to criminally asymptomatic people was strictly forbidden. Akane had gambled by coming so close to the line, but she was rewarded by a smile from Hanzou which confirmed her suspicions.

"No need to be so tense, detective Shimotsuki. I'm sure I don't know what detective Tsunemori is referring to." That, of course, had only added to Mika's frustration.

They had asked her to come to the station for questioning, but she had refused. If her crime coefficient was within the regulation range, she was within her rights to do so. Mike unceremoniously checked her with her dominator, and the results added to her unease. Hanzou was right on the line. "What is with this value?" Mika said in an accusatory tone.

"All that matters is that it's not high enough that I have to come with you, correct?"

"That---"

"That is correct, of course," Akane said, sensing that Mike was losing her cool, "but we would still appreciate it if you could answer some questions we have, for an ongoing investigation."

"If we remain here, I am happy to talk with two hard-working young detectives from the Bureau," Hanzou said with genuine warmth. "Though whether I'll have answers to your questions is another matter."

And so they had talked for over an hour, getting nowhere. Hanzou continued to subtly bait Mike along the way, while easily deflecting most of their questions. Long, pregnant pauses filled much of the time before her responses. It was after a particularly long silence that she had asked her strange question.

"Who is the happy warrior?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's the name of a paper by a 20th century American philosopher, Martha Nussbaum. The title is a reference to a poem by Wordsworth. In the poem he describes the happy warrior going into battle. Nussbaum points out that there doesn't seem to be much we would recognize as 'happy' in what the warrior goes through. But perhaps the warrior's happiness is different from the kind we think of, these days and even in her day. Maybe happiness can be more than just a pleasant feeling we experience when our lives are going well."

"That's absurd." Mika said with a snort.

"Is it? Don't you sometimes wonder if your enforcer is happier than you are, because they live a life more suited to their nature?"

"That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard!" Mika snapped.

"Detectie Shimotsuki!" Akane rebuked. Mika could not let suspects manipulate her during an interview in this way.

"That's OK, detective Tsunemori," Hanzou said, chuckling. "It is good for the young to be spirited. And in any case, detective Shimotsuki doesn't have to worry about these things like the rest of us. Isn't that right?" Her smile spread a little too widely to be polite. Mike stood up suddenly, visibly shaken.

"I'm not wasting another minute with this...person. Sibyl's judgment has been made, so I'm going. If you want your Psycho-Pass to get cloudy, senpai, you can stay." Mika talked as though she were in command of the situation, but she wouldn't meet Hanzou's piercing gaze. She retreated, rather than exited, the diner.

"What a handful your kohai must be," Hanzou said, chuckling again. Akane said nothing, allowing silence to fall between them. "She's a blank, you know," Hanzou said finally. She pulled out a cigarette.

"Pardon?"

But Hanzou remained silent as she searched her purse for her lighter. Akane produced her own, and with a flick offered the flame. Looking pleasantly surprised, Hanzou accepted, and took a puff before continuing.

"A blank. I don't know what you call them. The type that...can't be measured properly," she said carefully. Akane's heart rate picked up, but she maintained her composure. "We call them blanks."

"And you employ these...blanks?"

"They would be pretty useful for certain lines of work, wouldn't you say?" Hanzou replied with practiced ambiguity, "her kind is the best, if you get them early. Totally, mindlessly obedient to perceived authority."

"So you use these people to facilitate a criminal enterprise under Sibyl's nose?" Akane pressed. Hanzou burst out laughing.

"How would that be possible when I am not a blank myself? By definition, any enterprise I run cannot be criminal."

Akane considered that.

"Why did you mention the paper by Nussbaum?"

"Ah! Yes. Your blank kohai distracted me. Thank you, detective. The thing about that paper is that Nussbaum was criticizing western happiness research. That research went on to become the basis for early prototypes of the Sibyl System. But they never could address her criticism. What if there are radically different ways to be happy? Moreover, what if some of these ways are socially inharmonious; ways of being happy that reduce the happiness of others by definition?

"Like a warrior's happiness," said Akane, her mind turning to Kogame, as it had several times in the course of the conversation.

"Exactly right. Now, let's say that, unlike the people Nussbaum criticized, the Sibyl System saw this as a real problem. How could it solve this problem?"

"I'm not sure that it could," Akane said, after giving it some thought, "some kinds of happiness might just be incompatible with creating the greatest overall happiness."

"In the past, when something people wanted wasn't available, that was an opportunity for an entrepreneur."

"Arbitrage," Akane said, remember her conversation with Saiga.

"Just so!" Hanzou said with evident delight, "You continue to impress me. Now, there seemed to be a lot of money for one who could fulfill certain desires without exactly breaking the law. And I did OK at first."

"But Sibyl would be able to see right through all that, to the criminality of your intentions."

"Yes, and I was eventually taken in. But you're one of the few that know the great secret, aren't you?"

"Which secret?" Akane asked, not taking tipping her hand.

"Sibyl can be bargained with." This did get a reaction.

"You're not suggesting that you talked your way out?"

"I had a service that Sibyl needed and only I could provide, forms of happiness she cannot formally sanction but it is against her mandate to seek to eliminate. There was an opportunity for mutual gain. Arbitrage for me, as you say."

"You talked your way out."

"Come now, you're smarter than that. In order to get something, I had to give something."

"You changed how your organization operates?"

"A few big things, a many little ones. We are much more serious about preventing collateral damage than we used to be, for example."

That was when it dawned on Akane.

"Sibyl considers you part of the system," she said in unmasked astonishment. A wide, pleased grin spread across Hanzou's face.

"Keep civilians out of it and know that you're always fair game for the Bureau. Those were the amendments to my organization---as you cal it---which were part of the terms of my release. But a code of honor and the risk of capture or execution are essential elements of the kind of happines I can provide, anyway. And in exchange, I get to keep the profits when my ventures succeed. You said that I am a part of the system, but that is not quite right. I'm more like a contractor, brought in to do a job that the system needs someone to do but is organizationally incapable of doing internally.'

"But you sanction crimes on an enormous scale!" Akane shouted, standing and slamming her hands on the table.

"And stopping those crimes is your job," Hanzou said, looking mildly amused at the outburst.

"You were told these...terms?"

"Not in so many words. My crime coefficient went down just enough to get me released. I guessed much of the rest. When I make a mistake, I find the system is capable of letting me know. Usually my Psycho-Pass becomes subtly more clouded. When I make changes that are approved of, it gets clearer. Clever as you are, I'm sure you would have figured it out in my shoes."

Akane sat back down and took a deep breath, visibly calming down.

"What you're doing is unacceptable," she said finally, "it makes a mockery of the law. We will stop you."

"Are you questioning the wisdom of the Sibyl System?"

"The law is bigger than Sibyl."

"What an enigmatic answer," Hanzou said, "well, nothing has changed of course. It's still your place in the system to try and stop us. And our place is to make sure you fail more than you succeed. We are both relatively powerless to set the terms of this game, but we can play it to the best of our ability, don't you agree?"

"This isn't a game to me."

"Don't look down on games. They used to be a matter of life and death. The freedom of truly human play is one of many things we have lost. But unlike the cattle who let themselves be herded by Sibyl their whole lives, we have not forgotten that freedom. Nor have we lost our human ingenuity. You caught us with our pants down once, and still it nearly cost you your life. You won't get that close again, and even if you got lucky once or twice, my boys will be prepared for you."

"I haven't forgotten my human ingenuity either," Akane said, standing, "nor have any of our detectives or enforcers. We found you once, and we will find you again. Every last one of you. And once you have stopped being able to provide this...service that Sibyl seems to value, we will see what your Psycho-Pass looks like."

She left without another word, feeling Hanzou's piercing gaze on her back. She had a lot of work to do, if she was going to have a chance of trapping this wolf that Sibyl had allowed to roam free.


End file.
